Two research reports on highway infrastructure were released Wednesday. One revealed the ongoing deteriorating condition of roads, the other explained why there is less money than ever to fix the problem.

Not surprisingly, both reports came to the same conclusion: Bad roads slow economic progress, something that has not gone unnoticed by lawmakers and others.

It is a “significant public policy challenge, said state Rep. Duane Milne, R-167th of Willistown, whose district includes the heavily traveled Great Valley area.

“The state requires $3.5 billion for infrastructure and transportation maintenance every year. It is meaningfully important for both public safety and economic development, economic competitiveness.”

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Corporations certainly look at the roadways employees would use to travel to work before they select a location for a business, Milne added.

Data in a recent report from the American Society of Civil Engineers, or ASCE, shows the deteriorating conditions of the surface transportation infrastructure system in Pennsylvania is worsening, and motorists and businesses continue to feel the impact.

But where will the money to make the repairs come from?

AAA, in a report released Wednesday, said it doesn’t expect gas taxes collected at the pump to come to the rescue.

New cars are getting better gas mileage and that means lower fuel consumption and a corresponding drop in revenue from gasoline taxes, the primary source of funds for building, maintaining and improving roadways and bridges.

The University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute issued a report that found the improvement in fuel economy in the past five years corresponds to a 17 percent reduction in fuel consumption per distance driven.

Increased fuel economy is certainly good news for the American consumer’s wallet and the environment, but not for funding highway improvements.

“This is a classic irony,” Milne said.

Government will continue to push for more fuel efficient automobiles even at the risk of cutting into an established revenue stream which, of course, “presents a challenge,” he said.

The situation is a challenge for lawmakers as the nation heads into the 2013 legislative session.

“I fully support the idea that there needs to be more support for public infrastructure projects,” said U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach, R-6th of West Pikeland, whose district includes the corporate hub of Great Valley.

“From a federal standpoint, I have backed a proposal that would use federal royalties from off-shore energy production to supplement the federal gas tax revenues to bolster the resources available for improving roads, bridges, highways and the entire transportation system.”

In June, the U.S. House passed a two-year federal highway bill that invests approximately $40 billion in each of the next two years for highway construction projects.

President Barack Obama signed that bill into law on July 6. The law includes several reforms that consolidate or eliminate duplicative highway programs and streamlines the project approval process to ensure federal red tape does not cause unnecessary delays.

At ASCE, they believe that is not enough.

The recent surface transportation bill adopted by Congress addresses spending in only the next two years, and it fails to fill the current funding gap.

By 2020, ASCE projects the consequences of crumbling road infrastructure conditions will cost the U.S. economy $897 billion in lost Gross Domestic Product and $28 billion in exports as transportation costs rise.

In addition, “failing to invest in Pennsylvania’s roads, bridges and transit systems has a dramatic negative impact on the state and national economy,” said Gregory E. DiLoreto, president of ASCE.

“This data underscores the need for state and national policy makers to make smart, long-term investments in infrastructure.”

Pennsylvania’s General Assembly and Gov. Tom Corbett are expected to consider transportation funding solutions early next year.

According to the 2010 Pennsylvania Transportation Advisory Committee report, the state has a funding gap of about $3.5 billion per year, and a governor’s commission has presented recommendations that would reduce that by about $2.5 billion per year.

“The public opinion research we’ve conducted has shown repeatedly that people are willing to make a modest investment in order to have a safer and less congested transportation system,” said Robert Latham, executive vice president of Associated Pennsylvania Constructors.

Milne said funding options in Pennsylvania include higher driver’s license fees, higher emission and inspection fees, user fees for certain roads (in this area Route 422), and removing the State Police expenses from the infrastructure fund and putting it into the general fund.

“I don’t think I see any broad-based tax increase,” Milne said.

Residents are willing to pay for infrastructure if they believe the money will stay as funding for infrastructure and not be used elsewhere.

Bad roads mean big problems for businesses in Pennsylvania considering 77 percent of the $489 billion worth of commodities delivered annually from sites in Pennsylvania are transported by trucks on the state’s highways.

Tim Phelps, executive director at the Transportation Management Association of Chester County, said his organization understands the growing concern of the shortfall in funding for highway infrastructure projects.

“As Pennsylvania wrestles with fair and equal funding mechanisms, we look to share our member stories with our state legislators in Chester County,” Phelps said.

“Our infrastructure is important to Chester County’s and the regional economy but we as the public need to understand costs associated to maintain and improve. We need to look at all funding mechanisms so there is an equal share and no one carries all the burden.”